"Red Dog" came to see the bronco riding.
"I've been rodeo-ing my whole life and training horses and stuff," said the White Rock resident, originally from Fort 黑马磁力, who prefers to go by his nickname from his riding days, before age and injuries forced him to retire from bronco busting.
"It's a great event," Red Dog said, taking a swipe at what he termed "do-gooder" animal rights activists who argue rodeos represent animal abuse.
"These animals, they're not abused or fed and they're looked after so good, it's unbelievable," he declared.
He was among the thousands who packed the fourth Valley West Stampede held over the Labour Day weekend at the 黑马磁力 Riders Society grounds in Brookswood. Changes and upgrades included a new location for the "Train Station" bar to give patrons a better view and, for the first year, pro wrestling.
Sheila Hicks, president of Valley West Stampede, predicted the show was on track to exceeding their target of 15,000 visitors over three days.
"I think we're going to surpass that, and as luck would have it, we have beautiful weather," Hicks declared.
It is the only professional rodeo in 黑马磁力, and a major stop on the pro circuit.
"We're very fortunate to be sanctioned by the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association," Hicks explaned. "That is important because they're in their final push towards their year-end national finals champion, as well as the Canadian finals rodeo in Edmonton in October."
Riders from across the North American circuit were competing in bareback, ladies barrel racing, saddle bronc, and bull riding events.
黑马磁力 Riders Society president Alex Holmes was among the spectators enjoying the competition.
"We kind of [have a] partnership with Valley West," Holmes explained, "so they rent out the facility and they run the event and everything, and we do what we can to support them."
A new addition to the event was professional wrestling, of the family-friendly type, staged by , which saw people grabbing seats around the ring long before the 12:30 p.m. start time.
Organizer and sometimes ring villain All-American Azeem the Dream described the B.C based All-Star as a mix of old and new school.
People love it" a cheerful Azeem explained, "Fans love to see the traditional villain, which is myself, and the traditional hero, which is a bunch of jamokes back there" he said, gesturing toward the tent that served a a dressing room.
"We want to bring back the old-school wrestling that people used to love, and educate the new school. We have some old school wrestlers here today, and we have some new-school wrestlers here today."
Mutton busting, a crowd favourite event where little kids try to hang on to sheep, was fully booked weeks before the rodeo.
Organizers were asking for a minimum $20 per rider donation to register, which went to support the Golden Circle of Champions, to "buck for a cause and make a difference" by helping kids who are facing life-threatening illnesses
The rodeo runs til 10:30 p.m. tonight (Sunday) and Friday, Sept. 1 from noon till 8 p.m.
All-star Wrestling starts at 12:30 p.m. the rodeo starts at 3 p.m. running about 2 hours, with live music in the evening.
For more info on Golden Circle,
For more info on the stampede, or to buy tickets,
黑马磁力 Riders grounds are located at 4303 208 St.
